Guitab



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. TOWERS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GUITAR.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 10,934, dated May 16, 1854.

To all whom z' may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. TOWERS, of thecity and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Guitars; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of thisspecification.

Figure 1 is a top or birds-eye view of a guitar, with the improvementattached. Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Fig. 3is a cross section of the same.

Similar letters in the several figures refer to corresponding parts.

In employing a bridge and passing the strings over the same from thesides of the pins, as heretofore, the tension of the strings is exerteddownward on the bridge, which acts asa fulcrum, and the sounding boardat this point is pressed downward with a force corresponding with theangle formed by the strings and their degree of tension, which not onlylessens the volume and richness of tone of the guitar, but the bridgealso cuts and wears the strings where they are drawn over its sharp edgewith vgreat tightness in harmonizing their tone and at other times. Toremedy these defects I arrange the pins E, B, G, D, A, E, in the samepositions in the center board C, as in ordinary guitars, or they may beplaced in any other position to suit the taste of the maker, but insteadof making them solid, as heretofore, I form them with openings in theircenters, extending from end to end, so that each pin forms a tube with acaliber the proper size to admit its string, which is passed through itand held when tuned by a knot at its lower end. vThe two center pins G,D, are extended to the bottom board F, of the guitar and are forced onthe surface of the same with a slight degree of pressure by means ofpins H inserted in openings next-the upper o r sounding board I, andagainst the under surface of which they press with the same force as theend of the pins below, making these two center pins in fact perform thesame function as the sounding post of a violin, in addition to theirusual office of holding the strings. The other pins E, B, A, E, projectthe usual distance below the center board L, and the openings in them,as well as the openings in the center pms Gr, D, are made aring androunding at their upper ends, so as to present a curved surface, overwhich`the strings pass and rest when drawn tight at the head of theinstrument, forming the points at the foot, where the vibrations of thestrings terminate, which in the usual formed instrument is where theycross the bridge.

By dispensing with the bridge and forming the pins to hold the stringsin the manner described their tension is in a more direct line from .thecenter board to the frets at the head of the guitar than heretofore, andconsequently the force exerted by them on the' sounding board, beingmore longitudinal and less downward, will allow greater elasticity toit, and the slight downward impingement caused by t-he strings will beexerted more generally over its surface, between the foot and centerboard,- thus enabling the vibrations of the strings over the surface ofthe sounding board to produce tones of greater volume and richness thanif it were impinged or pressed downward at any particular part of thegrains of the wood. The strings, moreover, being passed over the roundedor curved surfaces of the tops of the pins (where their vibrationsterminate) they will have less tendency to wear at these points than ifpassed over a bridge, as heretofore, and their extent ofvibration willbe increased toward the foot of the instrument, the distance between thetops of the pins and the point-s where the usual bridge is situated,thereby enabling them to give a greater resonance of sound thanheretofore.

What I lclaim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patentis 1. Passing the strings through openings in the pins, extending fromend to end, and over their flared and rounded heads, and thence to thehead of the finger board of the guitar, for the purpose of increasingthe volume and richness of its tones, substantially as before described.

2. I claim extending the two center pins to the bottom board of theguitar, against which their lower ends are made to press by the pins, soas to cause them to act as sounding posts, in addition to serving asholdfasts for the strings, as herein set forth.

WILLIAM H. TOVERS.

Vitnesses STEPHEN F. SIMMONS, JAMES I, FRANCIS,

